Fair organizers upbeat in spite of election
Fair organizers upbeat in spite of election
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta
The 2004 Jakarta Fair is likely to be less festive than last
year, with fewer exhibitors signing up for the event possibly
because of increased uncertainly resulting of the presidential
elections.
The month-long fair, which has become an annual tradition to
mark the Jakarta anniversary, will be opened by President
Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Jakarta
Fairground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.
Only about 800 participants have so far registered to join the
exhibition, six of them from foreign countries, such as Malaysia,
Iran, Germany, Japan and China. The number of participants is
lower than last year's 1,186.
"We're still keeping the registrations open... We're targeting
a total of 1,000 exhibitors taking part in the fair," public
relations officer Adrian Putra said.
Adrian said the organizers were confident that more than 2.2
million visitors would attend the event, higher than last year's
1,760,315 people.
"We hope the presidential election campaign will not stop
people coming to the fair. In addition, we're hoping for an
increase of visitors during the long school holiday," he said.
The Jakarta Fair was held for the first time in 1968 at the
National Monument (Monas) Park in Central Jakarta. Since 1991,
the event has been moved to the more spacious Jakarta Fairground.
Jakarta Tourism Agency head Aurora Tambunan said the Jakarta
Fair was not the only attraction to commemorate the city's 477th
anniversary.
"There will be a laser show at Monas Park on June 22. The
lights will create moving pictures on the sides of the monument,
depicting historical episodes of Jakarta," she said at City Hall.
The Rp 15 billion (US$1.6 million) laser show was built by PT
Indofood Sukses Makmur, an instant noodle producer, in a deal
that saw it licensed to put up billboards in several strategic
locations in the city.
Aurora said the administration would also organize a fashion
show on July 17 on the Adem River in Angke, North Jakarta, using
floating barrels to create the catwalk. The event is called
"Fashion on the Water".
"The idea (of using the river as the venue) came from Governor
Sutiyoso. He wants to introduce a new concept to Jakartans -- to
get them to regard rivers as their front yards and therefore
deserving of more care and attention," she said.
Jakartans have long helped pollute the city's 13 rivers with
domestic waste in the absence of an integrated sewage system in
the city.
The fashion show will be marked by a dragon boat race on the
river.